Which steps you need to take for having your qualifications recognised will
depend on:

what you need the recognition for; and

which country you would like to study or work in.

Where to begin?

Depending on the country, it will be the
education institution (i.e. university), the ministry responsible for education
or the ENIC-NARIC national information centre that will be responsible for the
evaluation of your qualification.

It is important to be aware that it can be
challenging to assess qualifications held by refugees or people in a refugee-like situation and that some countries do
not have a procedure in place yet for this kind of assessment. In addition, recognition policies can vary by country depending on your legal status.

Do you
want to study?

You should contact
the ENIC-NARIC Centre for information about admissions and recognition
procedures in the relevant country.

If you have
already identified the education institution that you would like to seek
admission to, contact the admission office at the institution to ask about
admission requirements. The institution might refer you back to the national
ENIC-NARIC Centre in case it is not familiar with your qualifications.

Do you want to work?

In those countries that offer recognition of
qualifications held by refugees, you can apply for recognition with the
competent authority. You will be asked to provide a number of documents and
possibly to have some of them translated.

If you are unable to provide documentation,
you should be prepared to provide information about your qualifications using alternative
methods.

Recognising qualifications held by refugees
can be demanding for the applicant and the organization responsible for the
evaluation process. It is therefore important to understand that this procedure
will be different from the standard recognition procedure in the country.

Before the evaluation, you may be told:

how much the evaluation
will cost (if there is a fee for the service)

how long the assessment of
your qualifications will take (several weeks to several months depending on the
complexity of your file);

what type of document you
will obtain as a result of the evaluation (for example a full equivalency or a
comparative report); and

how to appeal the decision
if you are not satisfied with the evaluation.

What to avoid?

Do not send any documentation (by email, regular mail, or fax) until and
unless you have been asked to do so by the agent evaluating your qualifications.
The documents required may not be the ones you think, or the service you are
sending them to may not be responsible for the evaluation. You will be saving
time and money and avoid the possible loss of confidential documents.

Do not provide original documents. In most cases, duly certified copies
should be sufficient. In case of doubt, you may be required to show the
original documents but do not send them by mail unless instructed to do so.

Do not have any document translated until you have been told that such a
translation is needed and how to proceed with this. In this way, you will avoid
unnecessary expenses.

Where do I find more
information?

If you have a question about the recognition of your qualifications in
one of the ENIC-NARIC countries listed in the right column, please
click on the name of the country and contact the national information
centre of that country for expert assistance.

In the right column, you can also find information on policies
and procedures for the recognition of qualifications in each
ENIC-NARIC country page.

For more detailed
information on academic recognition procedures in countries outside Europe,
please visit the UNESCO Regions section and directly contact the national
authority of that country.